Below is an editorial from 1851 in Building, Building Design’s sister title, recording the frantic efforts to get the Crystal Palace ready for the Great Exhibition held that year in Hyde Park. Less than a month before the event was due to open to the six million Victorians who would visit, there was still an “enormous” amount of work unfinished.

More than 2,000 panes of glass had broken due to high winds, causing serious leaks that had to be fixed by strapping the panes down with ties. The source of another leak was found to be a nail bag wedged into a drain pipe by a “mischievously-disposed” work man.

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